This invention relates to a control assembly for adjusting a thermostat setting of a household refrigerator.
Household refrigerators are arranged so that the thermostat may be manually adjusted by the user to change the thermostat setting and thus control the temperature inside the refrigerator. In some refrigerators the control to adjust the thermostat is located at the front of the refrigerator and the thermostat is located at the rear of the inside compartment of the refrigerator. In most household refrigerators the evaporator for the refrigerant system is located adjacent the freezer compartment and a portion of the cold air resulting from operation of the evaporator flows into the freezer compartment (below freezing) and a portion is directed to flow into the fresh food compartment (above freezing). Usually the thermostat that controls operation of the refrigerant system is positioned in the fresh food compartment to sense the temperature of the air within the fresh food compartment. It is usually located near where the cold air is introduced into the fresh food compartment which in most cases is at the rear of the compartment. When the temperature inside the refrigerator reaches a pre-set upper limit the thermostat turns on the compressor and the refrigerant system is operated in the normal manner to reduce the temperature of the interior compartment of the refrigerator. When the temperature reaches a pre-set lower limit the thermostat turns the compressor off. It is desirable in these type of refrigerators to mount the thermostat near the rear of the fresh food compartment while the manual control for adjusting the thermostat is mounted at the front of the refrigerator. It is also desirable to provide a structure that allows the control assembly including the thermostat to be mounted without the use of any screws for fastening yet retaining the components of the control assembly in their proper position during manual manipulation of the control components for adjusting the thermostat setting. It is highly desirable to have the control assembly constructed and arranged so that there is ready access to the thermostat should the need arise to repair or replace the thermostat with the rest of the control remaining intact. By this invention such a control assembly is provided.